Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

I had often heard of the horrific times of slavery; after all, I went to an historically black university. The intricate details of over 300 years and the mystery of emotions that one might feel if they were to be trapped inbetween two different spaces of time; to be entrapped in a world where you were thought to be no more than three-fourths of a human. It was not until I began to read “Kindred” by Butler, that I saw the many layers of America’s racial history. Butler’s sci-fi work is amazing and bursting with so much detail that you smell the deep south as you read. Butler’s work is one to be remembered as one of my favorite novels. This work reaches your soul and captures your attention for hours. In the book, Dana is a black woman in 1970’s USA and is mysteriously and suddenly transported back to the exact plantation where her ancestors were enslaved. As her time-travel trips get longer (spanning many days at a time), she experiences first-hand the pain and burden of slavery. The urgency of Butler’s writing makes the physical terror of her situation palpable; the book grabbed my attention immediately and never let go.

I’d recommend this book to all ages! A magical whirlwind of the many strands that have helped to weave so many American families.